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Edith's Streets

This blog records notes about London (and Greater London) streets - what the buildings are, what the background is. These pages have been compiled over many years and from many sources - its not intended to copy from other people's work.Each post represents a square on the Ordnance Survey grid -and the vast majority of information is culled from map based source material - Ordnance Survey, A/Z, etc.

On some inner city squares only a quarter of each square is done because of the volume of material involved

Please add your comments and corrections - I am sure there are lots of mistakes - and my idea is to build up a correct record interactively

Red- it is (hopefully) there nowBlue - its interesting but its goneNo colour, same as the text - don't know. needs to be verified

Anglia Way. This is a private road which continues Kent Avenue onto the Ford jetty. Anglia was a Ford car, made in Dagenham and launched soon after the start of the Second World War. It was made until 1967 when it was replaced by the Escort, by which time 1,594,486 had been produced.
Kent Avenue
The southern end is a private road within the Ford works

Perry Road
Hanson Depot and aggregate works.

Railway
Ford sidings - there was and is a 10 mile network of rail sidings around the Ford site.

River Thameside
Cable. A 132 kV cable crossed the Thames here with towers 148.4 metres tall. It was built between 1927 and 1932 and taken down in 1987.
Ford Wharf is the longest private wharf on the river and is the reason Ford chose the site. The jetty handles ships of 12,000 tons and was built for imported iron ore and coal. It is now a Ro-Ro operation and handles imported vehicles from Ford factories in Europe. It also handles imported goods and materials for other manufacturers.
Neon sign on the riverfront building said ‘Ford’ and was the largest neon sign in Europe.
Ford ferry. From 1933 to 2003 a ferry brought workers from south London across the river.
Flying grounds owned by the Royal Aeronautical Society from 1909 were bought for the Ford works. A shed was built there to house a large dirigible and a wooden hangar was built by West and Coe for experimental balloons. Gatherings were held there – at one of which it has been suggested that the Wright Brothers attended.

Thames Avenue
Ford Head Offices.This was behind the jetty on the riverfront. It was in an Art Deco style by Heathcote & Sons and included a hospital and a training centre.
Ford Assembly Plant buildings designed were by Heathcote and Sons, 1929-31; site work and erection by Trentham. The consisted of nine parallel two-storey ranges, 1,000ft long, of steel framing clad in brick. Although they were modified for changing methods of car production, they were surviving relics of the revolutionary Ford processes. At the east end was a power house and foundry from which the raw materials entered and went progressively through via a conveyor system until the completed vehicles were driven under their own power onto the quayside. By 1966 the riverside building was dedicated to engine manufacturing.